Bears vs. Lions inactives: Week 13 injury report for Thanksgiving Day

Just around one month ago, there was reason to believe that Thursday's Thanksgiving Day matchup featuring the Chicago Bears and Detroit Lions was going to be one that would have major playoff implications. Through the first six weeks of the season, the 4-2 Bears were just 1.0 game back of the 5-1 Lions in the NFC North standings.

Since then, things have changed dramatically. The Bears have lost five games in a row including a couple in unlikely fashion to fall to 4-7 on the season. Their playoff hopes aren't completely dead, but in a deep NFC, they probably can't afford another loss if they want to get in. Matt Eberflus might not be able to afford another loss to keep his job. Conversely, the Lions have won five games in a row and nine in a row overall. They enter this matchup with a 10-1 record and with the best point differential in the NFL by far.

This game looks like a mismatch on paper, but just last season, we saw a less-talented Bears roster nearly beat the Lions the first time they matched up and beat them by two scores in their second meeting. It wouldn't be shocking to see Chicago make things interesting with their season likely on the line to kick off the Thanksgiving holiday.

The injury report, whether we like it or not, can end up playing a large role in determining the outcome of this high-profile game.

Bears official inactives for Week 13 vs. Lions

The Bears injury report is far more forgiving than that of the Lions entering this game. Only two players are on it as of Wednesday, although both of them have already been ruled out for this game.

Ryan Bates' absence in this Week 13 game is far from surprising. He departed Detroit's Week 11 game with a concussion and was just a limited participant in practices this week. WIth the Bears being on a short week, the odds were stacked against him to suit up.

Joining Bates on the sidelines is Elijah Hicks, a player who had been filling in for the injured Jaquon Brisker in Chicago's secondary. The Bears' secondary struggled in their Week 12 game against the Minnesota Vikings, so they could be in trouble against these high-powered Lions with another injury there.

Lions official inactives for Week 13 vs. Bears

The Lions have only declared one player as out thus far, but their injury report is far more substantial than that of Chicago's. Kalif Raymond will not only be sidelined in this game due to his foot injury, but he was placed on IR, knocking him out for the Lions' next four games. He doesn't play a huge role in Detroit's offense, but leads the NFL in punt returns and yards, proving to be one of the best special teamers in the league.

Losing Raymond stings, but it sounds like two important pieces to the Lions' offense - Amon-Ra St. Brown and David Montgomery - will be available to suit up based on what head coach Dan Campbell had to say on Tuesday. It obviously can't be overstated how much better the Lions' offense is with those two players than without.

While it's good news that those two players will suit up, Campbell did not sound nearly as optimistic about the status of both Taylor Decker and Carlton Davis. Decker, Detroit's starting left tackle, has appeared in 10 of their 11 games thus far, but played just 81 percent of the offensive snaps due to his knee injury. Davis has yet to miss a game in his first season with the Lions, and it'd be unfortunate if he sits this one out in particular considering all of the talented wideouts that the Bears have on their roster.